048 Heinus Vincent

In the North District of Tingen City, at 13 Halls Street, lies the Divination Club on the second floor. Once again, Klein caught sight of the beautiful lady in charge of reception. She still wore her chestnut-brown hair coiled elegantly, appearing mature and refined. From her appearance alone, it was difficult to ascertain her exact age.

"Good day, Mr. Grassis is not available today. Would you like to consult another fortune teller?" the lovely lady said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Klein, who had just replaced his silk hat, was taken aback, "You remember me?"

This was five days ago! The lady with chestnut hair pursed her lips and smiled, "You were the first guest to consult Mr. Grassis and, up until today, the only one. It's hard for me not to leave a lasting impression."

An impression of someone trying to take advantage of a small favor, perhaps? Klein self-mockingly quipped, then pondered and asked, "When was the last time Mr. Grassis visited the club?"

Glancing at him, the lady with chestnut hair answered thoughtfully, "To be honest, we cannot predict the regularity of members' visits. They have their own free will and various affairs. Um, I remember that after the day you had your fortune told, Mr. Grassis hasn't visited the club again."

Wishing him luck, may the goddess bless him... Klein prayed silently, refraining from further inquiries, and instead smiled, "I'm not here for a consultation this time; I wish to join the club."

"Really? It's our honor." The chestnut-haired lady showed a timely expression of surprise. "As a first-time member, please pay a yearly fee of £5, and thereafter, £1 annually. Do I need to reintroduce the details?"

Klein took out a new £5 note from his inner pocket, watching as the image of Henry Augustus I receded from him. After carefully inspecting the anti-counterfeit watermark, the chestnut-haired lady solemnly accepted the banknote, then produced a form and handed it to Klein, saying, "Please fill in your details, and I'll issue you a receipt."

Is there an invoice? The header reads "Black Thorn Security Company"... Klein was amused by his own thoughts. He picked up the fountain pen on the table, dipped it in the blue-black ink, and filled in his name, age, street address, and company name.

However, he deliberately left blank the date of birth, a significant number for a "fortune teller" that held his mystical secrets.

After issuing the receipt and registering the membership, the chestnut-haired lady extended her right hand, saying, "Welcome to the Tingen City Divination Club. I am Angelica Barrehart, your diligent servant. Here is your membership pin, adorned with our unique inscription, which serves as proof of your membership."

"Hello, Ms. Angelica," Klein lightly shook her hand and accepted the dark gold sleeve pin. He noticed that the unique inscription on it used the root of a word from the Hermes language, that word being "fortune teller."

Retracting her left hand, Angelica pondered for a few seconds and then said, "I wonder what divination art you excel in, or perhaps, what divination method you wish to study at the club? We will consider inviting corresponding renowned fortune tellers to teach, and we will introduce you to members with similar expertise for pleasant exchanges."

"Every form of divination, I have a grasp of it, so there's no need to consider me specifically," Klein answered with a touch of refinement. He then inquired, "May I begin divining for others now? I am not a novice just starting to learn."

He came to play the role of a "fortune teller," not to learn divination methods that ordinary people could access. Angelica maintained a polite smile and said, "You are free to perform divinations for others at the club anytime. However, until we confirm your proficiency, we won't vouch for you when customers inquire. What fee would you like to charge for divination?"

"Two pence," Klein intended to win on price while he lacked fame.

"We will deduct a quarter of a penny according to an eighth of the total price..." Angelica explained the various regulations first before jotting down Klein's information in the "Fortune Teller" catalog available for customers to choose from.

After completing all these procedures, she smiled and gestured towards the meeting room at the end of the corridor, saying, "Mr. Vincent Hansen is currently explaining astrological divination. You can quietly find a seat to listen or raise questions if you wish."

"Very well," Klein, feeling quite interested, walked towards the meeting room, eager to hear the differences between Mr. Hansen's lecture and what he had heard from Mr. Neil.

At that moment, Angelica caught up, lowering her voice, "Mr. Moretti, would you like coffee or tea? We offer complimentary Tabor red tea, Southwell coffee, and Dixie coffee."

Having frequently read newspapers recently, Klein knew that these coffees and red teas belonged to the medium to lower tier. Still, he understood they were definitely better than the inferior quality types at home. Thus, he thought for a moment and said, "A cup of Southwell coffee, with three spoons of sugar, no milk."

The Southwell County of the Rune Kingdom was most famous for beer and red wine, favored by many important figures, while coffee was relatively less renowned.

"Very well, it will be brought to you shortly," Angelica said, pointing towards the meeting room.

Klein walked slowly to the slightly open door and heard the explanation with a thick Ahova County accent, "Astrological divination is considered quite complex among all divination methods..."

This was only relative to ordinary people... Klein silently supplemented, seeing that there were five or six long tables arranged in a semicircle in the meeting room, surrounded by middle-aged men and women dressed in black classical robes, led by Mr. Vincent Hansen.

This gentleman had obvious dark circles under his eyes, and his brown hair was dense and stiff, standing stubbornly upright like a hedgehog. Other than that, there was nothing particularly distinctive about him.

Seeing Klein come in, Mr. Vincent Hansen nodded slightly without interrupting the class, only slightly slowing down his pace of speech.

Klein casually found a seat at the edge, leaned back comfortably, and glanced around the room bathed in the still radiant afternoon sunlight. He saw six members in total, four men and two women.

Some were focused on taking notes, some were whispering, and some smiled bitterly at Klein.

Placing his cane neatly beside him, Klein adjusted his half-high silk hat, bent his fingers, and lightly tapped his temples twice.

His gaze fell on Mr. Hansen, observing his aura, noticing the different colors, brightness, and thickness.

"Dark red, slightly anxious emotionally... otherwise, everything else seems healthy; it's just that there's a bit of a problem there, not sure what it is..." Klein murmured to himself as he leisurely listened to the class.

At this moment, he clenched his right hand against his mouth to prevent laughter from escaping, because he suddenly felt like an unlicensed old Chinese doctor.

Regarding his clairvoyance ability, he was quite satisfied now. Although he could only judge the general situation, unable to discern specific details, it was enough to obtain many useful pieces of information.

Surveying the room once again, he lightly tapped his temples twice, seemingly contemplating Mr. Hansen's previous words.

Astrological divination was a branch of astrology, but even ordinary people could attempt to interpret it. For example, the most basic "natal chart" involved marking the symbols of the Sun, Moon, Blue Star, and Red Star, among others, according to the positions they held at the time of the querent's birth, placing them correctly on the chart, and adding various corresponding conditions of the constellations. Finally, the individual's destiny was interpreted based on these factors.

This requires the diviner to understand the retrograde calculation of the states of planets and constellations, which is quite complex. Of course, some people publish reference books for consultation, while others simplify it directly, using only constellations for the most vague interpretation.

Klein listened quietly, without interrupting or asking questions. Occasionally, he would fiddle with the yellow crystal pendant on his cuff and take a sip of the Southwell coffee brought in by Angelica.

After a while, Hansen rubbed his temples and said, "You might want to try drawing your own natal charts. If you have any questions, you can find me in the Crystal Room."

Watching him leave, a young man in a white shirt and black waistcoat stood up, approached Klein, and said with a smile, "Hello, I'm Edward Steve."

"Hello, I'm Klein Moretti," Klein returned the greeting as he stood up.

"Natal charts are truly too complex. Every time I hear about them, I can't help but want to start a dream," Edward self-deprecatingly remarked.

Klein chuckled and replied, "That's because Mr. Hansen can't resist teaching us all the knowledge he has, like serving us a full Inditis banquet at once, which isn't conducive to digestion."

"If it were me, I could finish a table of Inditis banquet. They always use big plates to serve tiny bits of food," Edward chuckled and sat down, curiously asking, "Are you a new member? I haven't seen you in the past two years."

"I just joined the club today," Klein replied calmly.

"What are you good at? I specialize in tarot and poker divination," Edward asked casually.

"I know a little about both, but only a little," Klein applied his previous description of himself here.

He wasn't being modest; there was indeed much mysterious knowledge in the field of divination that he had yet to grasp.

Just as other members were about to come over to discuss natal chart divination, Angelica entered the meeting room and said, "Mr. Steve, someone is looking for you for divination."

"Okay," Edward Steve smiled and got up.

"You seem to be an excellent diviner," Klein remarked as he watched him leave.

"No, it's just because my prices are the most suitable," Edward chuckled softly. "Ordinary people who come for divination will never directly choose the most expensive ones, and unless they've been kicked by a donkey, they certainly won't trust the cheapest ones either. The ones priced in the middle have the easiest chance."

"I must be the one who's been kicked by a donkey..." Klein shook his head with a bitter smile as he watched Edward leave.

Seemingly realizing that his pricing strategy might have gone awry, he stood up, took his cane, and walked out of the meeting room, finding Angelica again.

"I'd like to change the divination price, um, to 8 pence," Klein said.

Angelica looked at him deeply and said, "We'll meet your request, but we'll also inform the customers that you've just joined our club."

"No problem," Klein nodded indifferently.

Sometimes, mystery was also an important element that attracted customers to fortune tellers.

After updating the information, Klein returned to the meeting room.

At this moment, he saw Hansen come out of the Crystal Room, holding a silver-plated mirror in his hand.

The renowned diviner addressed the three men and two women inside the meeting room, "I've recently mastered a new form of divination, mirror divination. Would you like to learn?"

Mirror divination? That's not a safe method of divination... Klein, dressed in black formal attire, stopped outside the meeting room, his brow furrowing.